Living in poor conditions is never ideal, whether you’ve got some mould growing in your apartment, a leaky tap or something even worse. For many people living in social housing, the conditions are less than ideal… and student Kwajo Tweneboa has experienced it all. He has lived without a bathroom, without a ceiling during the winter and among vermin and mould, even as his own father was suffering with cancer.
Appeals to Housing Associations
Despite many appeals to the housing association, his living conditions did not improve. However, he has not let his experiences set him back, Kwajo has become a social housing activist, offering his services free of charge to other social housing residents experiencing similar problems. Despite being a full-time student, he spends a large proportion of his free time writing to MP’s, and to social housing landlords in order to try and seek justice for those living in poor social housing. He also shares the stories of social housing tenants online in order to help get their stories heard and to help fight his campaign.
Steven Bartlett – Dragons Den
After hearing about Kwajo’s activist work, Dragons Den’s Steven Bartlett decided to make him an offer in order to support Kwajo in his efforts to improve social housing in the UK. In his pledge Steven outlined that he would donate £10,000, provide camera equipment in order to ensure that more content can be produced to educate and inform others about the topic, and that he would mentor Kwajo in anyway that he could. Steven’s aim was to provide Kwajo with the foundations that he needed to carry on his work. He does not specify how the money should be used, or where it should be spent, but only indicates that Kwajo use it as he sees fit. Steven himself has received support from strangers in his past which helped him on his journey to success, and by making his offer to Kwajo he hoped to do the same, giving him a push in the right direction.
Newsbeat Article
In a recent Newsbeat article Kwajo discusses how the money can be used to take his efforts to ‘another level’. He feels strongly that no one should be forced to live in poor conditions, and he hopes that through his continued efforts he can make a real change. Thanks to Kwajo there’s someone in your corner, if you’ve experienced adverse living conditions while in social housing then don’t hesitate to reach out.
Find out more about Kwajo’s story here and keep up to date with his latest efforts on his twitter.
